I’m thinking about my diet. Aspects of simply wanting to eat cleanly, now that I have a good handle on limiting animal products and upping roughage, are still swirling after my fleshy quandary last week.
Can I just say, for the record, that I am maddened and saddened by what I see in people’s carts in the checkout line? Let me be clear: I fully understand the need to observe a budget. I also do not think that people are stupid just because their cart is loaded with soda, cheese crackers, colorful cereals and canned vegetables.
What really gets to me is the certainty that no one has ever actually explained – like, with science, not just rules – food to these consumers, and that they’re led to make choices that seem healthy but which are, in fact, only marketed distractions from a truly wholesome diet. I’m looking at you, sugary yogurt, chewy granola bars, fruit/veggie juices and multi-grain bread. Processed food has a way of hiding under fancy labels and within staple items.
The ignorance of the general public, and the culture of encouraging regular dietary indulgence (because YOLO), is a serious detriment to the lower classes and children of the United States. Harshly, it will contribute to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression and a host of other problems.
Yeah. I know. It’s silly to think we can cheat death. We can’t.
But isn’t it sensible to make efforts to have it happen later rather than sooner, and to live with an able body as long as possible? Most likely, you won’t get hit by a bus, even if you give up cheeseburgers. Don’t count on a fad diet or calorie counting to make you truly healthy. Learn about food, know what you’re eating and take back control from pathetic industry marketing.
Anyway, rant rant rant. I got started after hearing this interview with author Michael Moss about his book ‘Salt Sugar Fat,’ and latched on to his comment that we should be eating, not what our grandparents ate, but what our great grandparents ate. His point was that pretty much anyone who ate in the U.S. after World War II would have been subject to a degrading (but so convenient!) food industry.
Now go make soup or something!